Supernova
by Simplysheree
Summary: The abyss stretched out around her, smothering her in fear and panic, writing in the frictionless void, begging for release or mercy. (Oneshot fic based around Shepard getting spaced, rated T for upsetting content)


__**I know that this is an unusual fic and it's quite short, but I wrote it late at night and can't quite bring myself to leave it unpublished, honest critique would be most welcome, as I'm unsure of how well this one has turned out. **

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_Whoop-whoop… whoop-whoop…whoop-whoop…_

Nothing but panic, total and consuming, all around her, like a choking hand on her throat, a twisting knife in her belly. The relief at her crew mates escape was a small pin-prick in a black out blind. The tiniest spark of light that she clung to for all she was worth, all she had been.

_Whoop-whoop… whoop-whoop…_

Space stretched out around her in a way that she had never thought she would experience. In a way that was every spacer biggest fear, the paramount boogeyman. The biggest question, what would it feel like? What was it like to float in space, dying helplessly, would you see God? Monsters? Demons? Or just nothing? Which was the worst possibility? Now she knew: none mattered, the abyss had finally swallowed her whole, was devouring her piece by piece, second by second as her whole life paraded in front of her, as her erstwhile home burned at her back… and she didn't care for the beauty of the stars, or wonder at what was watching her. There was only the fear, the pain, the looming insanity. Would her mind break before her body?

_Whoop-whoop… whoop-whoop… whoop-whoop…_

The thin, reedy sound repeated again and again: what was it? Lessa Shepard turned her head to and for, her whole body twisting, pirouetting as she did so, what was that sound? It was her lungs, gasping for air, convulsing madly. Another wave of force pulsed past, pushing her further into the darkness, a blinding pain lanced through her body, she writhed, gasping helplessly as her suit released nerve stimulants and meds, numbing her pain slightly. A slow, steady hissing sound tugged at her mind, her hear sank as she realised that she knew the sound: the air escaping from her suit. Spinning in a graceful arc of agony, she saw the remains of the Normandy, burning in the distance, flagging slightly like a wounded beast. The large ship that had attacked them floated away like a victorious shark, deadly but full, content with what it had, no longer seeing their importance. Its shadow cast her into complete darkness for countless moments, then it was gone and she was pulled in its wake, pushed towards the slumbering planet below.

The terror was pure, unadulterated, crushing her. There was nothing but the fizzing, pulling, almost painful feeling screaming through her body, drawing out on her mind like a razor blade, the disbelief,_ this can't be happening, nonononono, God help me, God protect me, I can't- I don't- please- oh Jesus- Mary- help,_ the futile return to her childhood practices,_ yea though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will fear no evil…_ the pain was coming back, she was moving ever closer to the looming planet, it was getting harder and harder to breath. The horror and despair gouged at her mind, the pain ravaged her body, she felt the veil between life and death fizz, the line between madness and sanity waver, she floated in the abyss unprotected and she believed now, in the power of space. _Though I wade in deep waters,_ and what lay in the undertow she did not, could not know. It was too much, only gods and madmen could face this with open eyes, but she did not want to die, her vivid green eyes flicked from star to star, praying for a sign, for a lifeline that never came. She clung to life tenaciously, writhing, aware of a screaming in her head, no… in her helmet. She realised with dismay that it was her, _im screaming, that sound is coming from me? _

A high, helpless wailing, a choking, slobbering, gasping sound that bubbled from some primeval part of the human body, from a time when they feared fire, but clung to it as the lesser of many dangers. She coughed, hacked, vomited, her bladder voided and nothing changed. her fear and pain were nothing to the void, it did not care. The planet was so close now and she was so tired, she stopped struggling, the pain was indescribable, she closed her eyes and began to release her hold on life. The stars reflected on the shining glass of her helmet, casting a silver light on her armour, turning her silhouette into bleached bones, polished marble, giving her an ethereal beauty that she had never before possessed. A kind of despairing, haunting glamour that would plague the nightmares of the helpless spectators for the entirety of their lives. The halo of starlight carried humanities greatest hero, first specter and most steadfast guardian to her destiny in a shimmering honor guard. It was a few moments before the planets orbit latched onto her with greedy hands, but it did and began pulling her down, dragging her through the sky at ever increasing speed. As she began to burn, Shepard was aware for only a moment before giving up her hold on life. The incident reached the escape pods as a bright orange flare in the darkness, a streak of fire and glory. A supernova against the peaceful planet, against the remains of the ship. Nothing could have been more fitting.


End file.
